Supernatural‘s seventh season ended with Dean and Castiel in purgatory, but Castiel left Dean alone, and it’s unclear just what happened there. How much will fans see of Castiel next season?

SPNSeason 8 Spoilers

According to Zap2it, Misha Collins will be back for “a minimum of 8 episodes,” but it’s unclear if any of that will take place out of purgatory since “he hasn’t shot (or read!) any scenes that aren’t flashbacks of Purgatory.” The season is supposed to have plenty of flashbacks to show what happened to Sam and Dean while they were apart while they also work on cases together in the present after being reunited, which will happen quickly. So it wouldn’t be surprising if Castiel is only in the flashbacks. That doesn’t mean that he can’t escape purgatory at some point, but it is possible that at least for the beginning group of his episodes, he’s not in the present.

Supernatural season 8 is going to have to address where Castiel went (check out video interviews with Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins here about that and more). Castiel’s storyline with Crowley seems to be far from over, though perhaps Crowley will be a bit busy with Kevin and Meg in his clutches. However, it does seem likely that before Castiel’s arc on the series is over, there will be something more there. For now, it’s confirmed that there will be eight episodes featuring Collins as Castiel in some way, but considering he’s made it this far, could purgatory really be what ends his storyline on the series? It doesn’t seem likely, but anything is possible.